Cleo's Summer Fun

I know, I know, another blog about Cleo. She's part of our family; what can you expect?

Cleo has always LOVED playing in water (not so much the bath water, oddly enough), so we got her a hard plastic pool this year. Last year she had an air up one, but she bit a few holes into it. Anyway, she loves this pool, and begs to swim in it every day. She has learned how to splash - she paddles her front paws and makes big waves, then she tried to eat the waves. It is super cute, and I love watching her. Plus, when she's finished, we put her in a towel and hold her while she sleeps - yes, yes, just like a baby. If fact, I am typing this while she is asleep wrapped in a towel on my lap. This pic was taken about 20mins ago...

While we were in Ponca, we realized Cleo had a thing for remote control vehicles. Well, Target had one in their dollar section for only $2.50, so I couldn't pass it up. We drive this car around and Cleo goes crazy barking, panting, and chasing it nonstop. The crazy thing is, it even moves on its own at times. Yep, we have put the remote down with the intention of not moving the car, so Cleo can calm down and try to "get it," but while she's barking at it, it will back up by itself!!! Weird! It is great fun to watch, though it feels a little bit like we are torturing her. A couple of times she's even been quite the acrobat - when she actually gets ahold of the car and lifts it off the ground, she practically does a back flip to get away from it! I want to video it, but I don't know how to get the file small enough to fit on this blog. Not that techno savvy, I guess. That's why I use blogspot instead of myspace. LOL
While backing up my files, I found this old pic of Cleo. I remember I heard her whining, and when I went in to find her, she was stuck in the basket! She was probably about 12-14wks old here. It was taken when we lived on Craven before we bought this house. Wasn't she adorable? Makes me want another one... oh wait, I am trying to have a BABY instead!
And that's the end of my Cleo blogging... for now.

New Jewelry

I love this hobby! Here are some newer pieces I have recently made. While in Ponca, I actually sold several of my pieces. It was really encouraging, though it felt a little awkward having a bunch of people look at and critique my inspirations. www.freewebs.com/debbeads.

Family Pics

While on vacation, we had family pics taken with my side of the family. Here are some of the best.

The Long Vacation!

On May 23rd, our summer vacation began - well, sort of. We went home for Memorial Day weekend to see Roy's youngest brother, Gregg, graduate from high school. We are very proud of him. Adam, Roy's other brother, was there as well, and it was great to hang out with them.

This is Roy's mom, Linda, with Gregg. (Sorry for cutting off your head, Gregg.)

During our weekend home, we were able to spend time with two cuties: Roy's sister, Cristy, and her daughter, Keara, who is quite the ham.

My sister and her family came home, too, and so I was able to play with my John and Sarah. They thought I needed doctored; I was well taken care of! LOL

After our short trip to Ponca, we came back home to Waco, so I could finish out my last week of school. Then, we headed back to Ponca. It was great to spend time with all of our family. I even got to go to the movies with my daddy! We saw the new Indiana Jones movie, which was really great, no matter what the critics say.

While in Ponca I continued my new goal of running every day, but unfortunately, my body did not have the same goal as I did. On day two of our vacation, my left knee started hurting badly, and it did not get better. I was limping around everywhere and was in a great amount of pain. Today I went to the doctor, and he said he thinks it's a strained muscle but doesn't think it's torn. I am supposed to stay off of it (something I couldn't do while on vacation) and take IBuprofen every 6hrs for a few more days. If there is no change for the better, then I will go in for an MRI next week. I guess I'll have to figure something else out besides running...

After a few days of visiting with family, Roy and Cleo and I packed up and headed northwest to Colorado to see our friends, Cary and Melissa, and their adorable boys, Carson and Caden. As is typical, I kept forgetting to get a picture of them, so I don't have one to post. I was kicking myself all the way home... Anyway, we drove through Salina, KS, and took I-70 to Denver. It was the longest, most boring, nothingness 10hr trip I have ever taken! There really is nothing to see in KS!!! I take that back, one thing that was cool was the wind farms; we got a picture of them.

When we passed the sign saying we were in CO, I just had to get a pic. Did I mention the wind was fiercly blowing, and it was raining all the way to CO? That meant we couldn't see the Rockies when we got close, but once we arrived, it was all worth it.

Though you can't tell in this pic, I was freezing cold! My teeth were chattering uncontrollably. It gets pretty cool at night in CO, but because the weather was rainy that night, it was extra cold. We were in Castle Rock at about 6200 feet high!
We had a wonderful time hanging out with our friends and playing with their boys. Poor Cleo literally had the crap scared out of her upon arrival because Cary and Melissa's dogs ran out the door barking to greet her, but after a short time, they learned to tolerate one another. Cleo thought every ball the boys played with should have been hers, so she ruined a couple, but they really enjoyed playing with each other. We got to watch Cary and Melissa in action with their youth group, and also heard Cary preach on Sunday; we were so proud. Saturday we went to the youth group's car wash (they were raising money for a missions trip to MX), and then we met up with some of Melissa's family and went swimming. I got a bit of a burn, but I was so glad to get some color on my skin other than blinding white! That night we went to a nice Italian restaurant to eat. It was just so much fun to be with our friends. We have missed them so much since they moved from Waco to CO. During our visit I observed the many motherhood talents of Melissa. She is amazing, and I only hope that I can be as consistent and real with our kids. She is quite an inspiration.

On Sunday, we drove up to Dillon to the mountains. On the way, we stopped in Idaho Springs at a pizza place called Beau Jo's. It was super yummy pizza! The crust is fabulous, and they bring you honey to eat with it. At the back of the pizza place, there is a little water fall, so I snapped a pic. The town was really neat. It was an old mining town, and they even had a spot were you could pan for gold! A river runs through the mountains and the town, and people go rafting on it. It would be a great town to stay in for a few days.
After eating, we made our way through the mountains. We got up to 9-10,000 feet high! While taking a few pics, it started snowing! It was just gorgeous! Roy and I defintely want to move to CO after he graduates.

We left our wonderful friends and the amazing scenery on Monday, and headed back to Ponca where we stayed a couple more days before leaving Thursday. Now we are back home, and life seems boring. LOL